August 14, 2024 • 29 mins
Engulfed in the horrorcore scene, 20-year-old Richard McCroskey made a name for himself, singing about satanism, suicide, murder, and rape online. After releasing songs titled “Murderous Rage,” “Infamy,” and “I Kill People for Real,” Richard made some internet friends of the same ilk. When Richard traveled halfway across the country to meet those friends in person, he learned that sometimes life imitates art.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
At three pm on September seventeen, two thousand and nine,
the Farmville, Virginia Police enter the house on five oh
five First Avenue. The ghastly smell of carrion greets them
at the door, as if the putrid stench needed to
step out for fresh air. The officers call out hello,
(00:36):
but their words echo through the home without a reply.
Blood covers the couch and the floor. Further into the house,
an officer opens a door, exposing a stomach turning scene
posing inside a first floor bedroom. Mar three mangled and
(00:59):
decomposing corpses. Welcome to Sword and Scale Nightmares. True crime
(01:25):
for Bedtime where nightmare begins now. Twenty year old Richard
(01:46):
Samuel McCroskey was born and raised in Hayward, California, before
moving to Castro Valley with his parents and older sister.
Richard's father was a rock and roll guitarist and introduced
a son to bands like Corn Metallica and Insane Clown
Posse at an early age. High school was difficult for Richard.
(02:08):
He was overweight, redheaded, and let's say greasy. His oversized
black rock and roll hoodies, loner behavior, and pale white
skin gave him school shooter vibes long before that term
was even popular. Despite his looks, McCroskey was shy, polite,
(02:29):
and more or less a push around. Like most teenagers
that felt like they didn't fit in. Richard took to
the Internet way back in the early two thousands. The
social media of choice was MySpace, where Richard discovered he
belonged under the personas Psycho Sam and Lil Demon Dog.
(02:53):
He entered the horror core scene through an insane clown
posse chat room. Horror core or is a subgenre of
hip hop that often pushes themes of death, mental illness, satanism, suicide, murder, rape,
drug abuse, and all the other things that teenagers are
interested in. Richard derived his alter ego, Psycho Sam, from
(03:18):
the son of Sam. You know him. You're here, so
you must know him. American serial killer David Berkowitz is
who I'm talking about, of course. Richard began writing rap
songs at seventeen, and his first entirely produced song was
titled My Dark Side. Other Psycho Sam releases included Infamy,
(03:42):
Burning Churches, Murderous Rage, Sick Minds, Think Alike, and the
voices Oh Boy to be a Young angster ridden teenager again,
what I would give? Psycho Sam's first EP was tie
I kill people for real. In the music videos he
(04:04):
released on his Little Demon Dog YouTube channel, he referred
to evil voices in his head telling him to murder
continuously and quote take lives on a killing spree end quote.
While his online persona bloomed, Richard's real life fell apart.
(04:27):
He dropped out of Tennyson High School in Hayward before
transferring to Hayward High School, which didn't last long either.
Psycho Sam was confident, calm and jaw dropping online, but
Richard was the same shy, goofy looking kid when he
was nineteen. While connecting with the horror core community, Richard
(04:50):
met two women that changed his life forever. Sixteen year
old Emma Niederbrock, who went by the alias Ragdall, lived
across the United States from Richard and Farmville, Virginia. Emma
was homeschooled nearly her entire life. Her father was a
pastor and her mother was a criminal justice professor. Emma
(05:14):
took to horror Corra as a way of rebelling against
her super conservative parents. Emma dyed her hair pink, started
wearing all black and smoking cigarettes, which rattled her parents
so profoundly that the three regularly attended family counseling for it.
Like Richard, and again, like most teenagers, Emma felt alone
(05:37):
in the world. Emma wasn't weird like Richard, but being
homeschooled for so long had isolated her from those her age.
A friend in the horror course scene linked Emma with
eighteen year old high school dropout Melanie Wells aka Missus
Free Abortions. She came up with the name not Me
(05:59):
by the Way. Melanie listed her interests as cigarettes, alcohol, lust,
blood and gore and oh get this open graves. Don't
you just love them? A poem on the front page
of Melanie's MySpace read quote, You're screaming and bleeding, lying
on the floor. I can't help it. I'm making for
(06:21):
more gore. Slowly I make an incision in your main artery.
I feel the blood rush gush all over my body.
It's going deeper and deeper. Your life is slowly fading.
Your eyes roll back and your body starts shaking. That
doesn't even rhyme. Richard, Melanie, and Emma bonded over their
(06:43):
love of horror Core, the occult, and everything disturbing. Richard
took a particular interest in Emma, considering her his online girlfriend.
The two went back and forth for nearly a year,
posting to one another. Richard made multiple videos dedicated to
his rag Doll, showing her his disgustingly dirty room with
(07:07):
walls covered in band posters and weapons. But in April
of two thousand and nine, Richard's life fell further apart
when his father kicked his mother out of the house.
To soothe his broken heart and hide from his broken home,
he dove deeper into his online persona and more importantly,
(07:31):
his relationship with Emma. Emma loved Psycho Sam and Richard
loved rag Doll. That's when Richard, Emma, and Melanie prepared
to meet in person. The trio planned on attending the
Strictly for the Wicked Music Festival in Michigan on September twelfth.
(07:54):
That left Emma with just one obstacle. Her parents hated
horrorcore mute Zick would never approve of her going, so
the teen girl developed a plan. Emma Niederbrock and her
(08:33):
friends Richard and Melanie planned on attending the Strictly for
the Wicked Music Festival in Michigan on September twelfth, two
thousand and nine. The only problem was that Emma's parents
wouldn't allow it. After long screaming matches and some family counseling,
Deborah and Mark agreed to let Emma go on the
(08:54):
following conditions. First, Mark and Deborah would chaperone the concert. Second,
if Richard and Melanie wanted to tag along, they must
stay under her supervision at Debra's house. With everyone in agreement,
the trio set their plan into motion. The night Richard
(09:16):
flew out, Emma rode on his wall. The next time
you check your MySpace, you'll be at my house. I
love you so so much, baby, forever and always. You
are my one and only everything. I can't wait to
see you, baby. It's like six seventeen am and I've
been here since fourish, filled with uber amounts of excitement.
(09:41):
I can't wait. I leave to pick you up in
five hours. Ah. My insides feel all squishy. That squishy
feeling kind of faded when Richard landed. Though Richard was
not his online persona, he acted shy, timid. He was
considerably less physically attractive in person than he portrayed online.
(10:07):
Emma expected a rapper that spoke about murdering people, and
instead she got an overweight, mousey boy that seemed to
belong on Fortane or Reddit. As a result, the loving
welcome that Richard expected never came. Richard, Emma, Melanie, Mark,
(10:27):
and Deborah drove from Virginia to Michigan for ten hours.
That said a lot about Mark and Debra's mindset. They
hated horror core music. Mark was a pastor for God's sake,
not to mention. Mark and Debrah separated only months before
(10:48):
those wounds were fresh, yet they came together to ensure
Emma stayed safe. When they arrived, Emma posted to her
MySpace taka about a law ass drive sharing a car
with a preacher. It's going to suck, but no doubt
is it worth it. Many of the trio's friends were
(11:10):
at the festival and claimed to have seen Emma and
Melanie having a blast together. Richard, on the other hand,
was on his own. Emma's friends even claimed she went
out of her way to avoid him. Richard's sister heard
through the grapevine that they fought over their relationship. Richard
(11:31):
thought that two were in an exclusive relationship, while Emma
had been telling people he was just an internet friend.
During the ride home from the festival, it was made
clear that the dynamic between the trio was slightly off.
At two forty three am on September fourteenth, two thousand
(11:51):
and nine, Melanie posted to her MySpace that she would
be home on the sixteenth and that she missed people.
In the middle of the night, on September fifteenth, two
thousand and nine, long after everyone had fallen asleep, Richard
entered the backyard. He was beyond frustrated, filled actually with
(12:16):
explosive rage. Emma invited Richard. He took a long and
expensive flight just for her to turn around and treat
him like shit. He thought to himself, So what if
he was a little different in person than online? So
was she? That was when he noticed something in the woodpile,
(12:39):
a sizeable wood splitting mall implanted in a stump. Richard
examined the mall, larger and longer than a standard axe.
The head split in two, a sharp, thin blade on
one side and a sledgehammer on the other. If what
(13:02):
Emma wanted was Psycho Sam, Richard would give her Psycho Sam.
So Richard picks up the mall, feeling the weight of
it in his hand. It's heavy. They won't have a
chance to fight back. He walks the yard headed towards
(13:22):
the house. The home looks scary in the moonlight, fitting
for what's about to happen. He turns the knob and
shoulders the door open slowly. The house is so silent
that Richard can hear his own heartbeat. Broken up by
his nearly silent steps, he proceeds to the living room couch,
(13:46):
hefting the mall onto his shoulder. The all encompassing darkness
makes the room feel alive. He narrows his eyes to
examine the silhouette of the girl passed out on the couch.
Richard thinks about how the girl below him pretended to
be his friend, one of his only friends in the
(14:07):
whole world, that she treated him like shit, just like
everyone else. He burns a hole in the sleeping girl
with his gaze, but Melanie doesn't stir. She's completely unaware.
Richard raises the mall high, widening his legs for balance,
(14:32):
and down it comes. The mall lands with a crack,
splitting her skull like wood. Melanie doesn't have a chance
to make a sound or lift a hand. Richard pulls
the mall's handle, loosening its head from Melanie's. He brings
(14:55):
them all down, repeatedly, passing through Melanie and onto the
ca ouch cushions. Melanie's mangled pieces become one with the sofa. Next,
Richard walks to the upstairs bedroom. One of the three
women in the house, Deborah is the least guilty. Deborah
(15:17):
has been kind to him, has fed him, has opened
up her home to him with open arms. Richard wonders,
does Deborah know how her daughter has hurt him so deeply? No,
Deborah is as guilty as the rest, guilty by association.
(15:40):
He steps closer to the bed, the moonlight beaming off
the mal's blade. Richard brings down the mall in a swift,
calculated motion. The blade is embedded deep into the bone.
Deborah makes no pleas for mercy, not that they would
matter any He swings again, the blade, landing with a crack,
(16:05):
and again, this time with a thud as it slides
through the soft tissue. He finishes when Deborah no longer
looks human in the moonlight, Richard examines the blood sprinkling
his arms, hoodie and jeans. He reaches up and wipes
his face, wiping away what might be sweat but probably isn't.
(16:30):
He stumbles down toward Emma's room. The mall is heavy,
and his tired hands much heavier than when he first began.
Richard stands over Emma, wondering if he should wake her
and tell her why this has to happen. He has
no doubt she would struggle, scream, and fite for her
(16:50):
life at the sight of her blood soaked internet acquaintance.
He's ready to finish this once and for all. The
mall cuts an arc through the air, cutting deep through
fabric and flesh. The mall buries itself so deep in
Emma's chest the head disappears. As soon as the blade
(17:16):
comes free. A whistling sound escapes Emma's chest, followed by
an eruption of blood. Richard sends it down on Emma's face.
Emma's blood leaks down all over the side of the bed,
pooling around Richard's shoes. He abandons the mall and walks
to the living room. Richard picks up his phone and
(17:40):
clicks record. In the recording, Richard addresses whoever may find
it He apologizes, claiming he lost his mind and snapped.
He asks the viewer to tell his parents that he
loves them. Richard ends the recording with fuck you to
the big world, everybody in the world. I can't stand
(18:03):
this place. On September seventeenth, Melanie's father drives to Farmville
and knocks on the door at eleven am. No one answers,
so he waits and waits and waits for eight hours.
Melanie's parents call her and Emma's phones, and even contact
her online friends. Eventually, Melanie's parents speak with Richard, who
(18:27):
tells them that she and Emma went to a movie
and would be back. Eventually, Melanie's parents call Mark, who
agrees to check it out. Mark uses his key to
unlock Deborah's front door and walks in while calling out
for his family. As Mark walks into the living room,
he catches a glimpse of the massacre. Before everything goes black,
(18:55):
Richard strikes Mark hard from behind with the mall, knocking
him unconscious and onto the floor. Although Mark no longer
poses a threat, Richard continues to hit him until he
destroys the hardwood floor beneath his body. With that last swing,
(19:16):
Richard becomes Psycho Sam for real. When Melanie's parents fail
to hear back from Mark, they call the Farmville Police department.
A sergeant approaches the Kniederbrock house and Richard opens the door.
Richard tells the officer that Emma and Melanie were out
(19:38):
at a movie and would be back soon. Richard explains
that the girls had gone to Richmond the night before
and their car broke down. He also tells the officer
that Melanie isn't responding because her phone stopped working, without
knowing that there are multiple bodies just feet away. And
(19:58):
content with his answers, the police officer leaves. Melanie's parents
send the police back to the house again, and Richard
answers the door again. He gives the police officers another
story about the movies, and without searching the home, they
just leave. Melanie's mom continues calling the house until Richard answers.
(20:23):
This time, he simply says the girls can't come to
the phone. Oddly enough, Richard tells her strange noises are
coming from inside the basement. Melanie's mother instructs him to
call nine one one, and he does. When the operator
answers the phone Richard says, hey, could I have a
(20:43):
police unit come by my house because I keep hearing
sounds coming from the basement and I'm scared to go
down and check what it is. Richard explains that the
noises sound like something is moving down there, and that
they have a few dogs. He tells the officer that
his name is Sam and it's his girlfriend's house. Richard
(21:06):
lets the officer into the basement through a side door,
and they search together but find nothing. For the third
time now, the police leave a murder scene with bodies
in it, without exploring, without even looking around, without a clue.
On September seventeenth, Richard calls home and leaves his family
(21:29):
a voicemail telling them he loves them. With them a gone,
he has no reason to live anyway. Surrounded by Mark
and Melanie's bodies, Richard picks up the phone and records
his goodbye. Richard begins the recording by stating it is
(21:50):
his final minutes of being alive. He tells his parents
that he loves them and that he is sorry. Richard
claims he has to do what he has to do,
pointing to the stairs and alluding to killing himself. He
finishes the recording by saying, so my last words before
(22:11):
I go, fuck you to the world, fuck everybody in it.
I can't stand this place. Fuck your God. Richard moves
Mark and Melanie's bodies to Emma's bedroom and poses them together.
Then he walks to the living room and plans out
(22:32):
his suicide. On September eighteen, two thousand and nine, Melanie's
(23:17):
mother harassed the Farmville police enough that they agreed to
recheck the house. Upon approaching the front door, the smell
of death engulfed them. The officers found the bodies of Mark, Melanie,
and Emma in Emma's bedroom. The bodies were mutilated and unidentifiable.
(23:41):
They discovered Deborah's body in her bedroom, separated from her family.
Each of Richard's victims died from blunt force trauma, and
none had even a single defensive wound. Richard was nowhere
to be found. Earlier that morning, Richard fled Farmville in
(24:02):
Mars two thousand Honda. While on the run, Richard crashed
the Honda, leaving him stuck on the side of the road.
He sat contemplating what to do when he heard a
whooping sound of a police car. The Sheriff's deputy had
been driving down the road and he noticed Richard's predicament
and stopped to check it out. As the deputy approached
(24:27):
the vehicle, Richard turned into Psycho Sam yet again. Richard
introduced himself as Sam and explained that he had borrowed
the car. After some charm, the officer gave Richard a
citation for driving without a license and called him a
tow truck. The truck driver noticed Richard had red marks
(24:50):
covering his neck. When asked about it, Richard claimed they
were hickeys from his girlfriend. The tow truck dropped Richard
off at a convenience store around six am. When police
spoke to the driver, he said Richard stunk like the devil.
From the convenience store, Richard hailed a cab to take
(25:11):
him to the Richmond International Airport. Police pulled over that
taxi cab for speeding with Richard in the back. Richard
calmly exited the cab, lit a cigarette and smoked on
the sidewalk while the taxi driver figured it out. While
Richard escaped, he called a few friends to brag about
(25:33):
what he had done. Richard's friend Andre shrim who went
by sick tannic. The soulless called Farmville police and told
them Richard confessed to killing someone. In response, police spread
pictures of Richard across Virginia. Richard had tickets to fly home,
but they weren't for two days. He attempted to buy
(25:54):
an earlier ticket, but couldn't afford it. At eleven thirty
am on September nineteenth, two thousand and nine, airport security
spotted Richard sleeping in the baggage claim area. That area
of the airport was completely empty other than the snoring boy.
Richard had pulled his legs and arms into his oversized hoodie,
(26:16):
creating a human cocoon, and a team of police officers
calmly approached him without their guns drawn. Richard stood up
and the officers frisked him before walking him out on
his own accord. The prosecutors charged Richard with first degree murder, robbery,
and grand larceny, but later changed the charges to six
(26:39):
counts of capital murder. Richard refused to cooperate with the investigation.
In return, police stuck him in the Piedmont Regional Jail
on suicide watch. The guards stripped Richard naked and dressed
him in a smock made of tear resistant thick material.
He received no books, tv bed, or blankets. Richard had
(27:04):
to eat his meals with his hands. Richard accepted a
plea deal from that cell, exchanging four guilty pleas for
life in prison. Richard waved his right to appeal, and
while walking to his prison transport van, he actually smiled.
(27:24):
Imagine that the first time, perhaps in a long time,
that this person is happy is after brutally murdering people
then getting caught. Richard spent his years in several prisons,
including Wallin's Ridge State Prison and Indian Creek Prison. In
(27:45):
twenty nineteen, one of Richard's cellmates, pee Wee, gave an
interview describing life locked in a cell together. According to Peewee, Richard,
now an adult, introduced himself as psycho Sam. Peewee sized
him up on the first night, calling Richard gumpy and weak.
Pee Wee claimed Richard was forthcoming about why he was
(28:09):
incarcerated and genuinely sounded remorseful. Inmates bullied Richard, isolated and
disrespected him because he killed the young girls as they slept.
According to Peewee, Richard bunks with many men serving short sentences.
For both of their securities. Richard spent his time mentoring
(28:32):
them and sharing his words of wisdom. And the words
of wisdom or life is too short to make impulsive
decisions that ruin your life. If you enjoyed the show,
please consider joining plus at sword and Scale dot com
(28:55):
slash plus. But if you can't, consider leaving us a
positive review you on your preferred listening platform. Sweet Dreams
and good Night
At three pm on September seventeen, two thousand and nine,
the Farmville, Virginia Police enter the house on five oh
five First Avenue. The ghastly smell of carrion greets them
at the door, as if the putrid stench needed to
step out for fresh air. The officers call out hello,
(00:36):
but their words echo through the home without a reply.
Blood covers the couch and the floor. Further into the house,
an officer opens a door, exposing a stomach turning scene
posing inside a first floor bedroom. Mar three mangled and
(00:59):
decomposing corpses. Welcome to Sword and Scale Nightmares. True crime
(01:25):
for Bedtime where nightmare begins now. Twenty year old Richard
(01:46):
Samuel McCroskey was born and raised in Hayward, California, before
moving to Castro Valley with his parents and older sister.
Richard's father was a rock and roll guitarist and introduced
a son to bands like Corn Metallica and Insane Clown
Posse at an early age. High school was difficult for Richard.
(02:08):
He was overweight, redheaded, and let's say greasy. His oversized
black rock and roll hoodies, loner behavior, and pale white
skin gave him school shooter vibes long before that term
was even popular. Despite his looks, McCroskey was shy, polite,
(02:29):
and more or less a push around. Like most teenagers
that felt like they didn't fit in. Richard took to
the Internet way back in the early two thousands. The
social media of choice was MySpace, where Richard discovered he
belonged under the personas Psycho Sam and Lil Demon Dog.
(02:53):
He entered the horror core scene through an insane clown
posse chat room. Horror core or is a subgenre of
hip hop that often pushes themes of death, mental illness, satanism, suicide, murder, rape,
drug abuse, and all the other things that teenagers are
interested in. Richard derived his alter ego, Psycho Sam, from
(03:18):
the son of Sam. You know him. You're here, so
you must know him. American serial killer David Berkowitz is
who I'm talking about, of course. Richard began writing rap
songs at seventeen, and his first entirely produced song was
titled My Dark Side. Other Psycho Sam releases included Infamy,
(03:42):
Burning Churches, Murderous Rage, Sick Minds, Think Alike, and the
voices Oh Boy to be a Young angster ridden teenager again,
what I would give? Psycho Sam's first EP was tie
I kill people for real. In the music videos he
(04:04):
released on his Little Demon Dog YouTube channel, he referred
to evil voices in his head telling him to murder
continuously and quote take lives on a killing spree end quote.
While his online persona bloomed, Richard's real life fell apart.
(04:27):
He dropped out of Tennyson High School in Hayward before
transferring to Hayward High School, which didn't last long either.
Psycho Sam was confident, calm and jaw dropping online, but
Richard was the same shy, goofy looking kid when he
was nineteen. While connecting with the horror core community, Richard
(04:50):
met two women that changed his life forever. Sixteen year
old Emma Niederbrock, who went by the alias Ragdall, lived
across the United States from Richard and Farmville, Virginia. Emma
was homeschooled nearly her entire life. Her father was a
pastor and her mother was a criminal justice professor. Emma
(05:14):
took to horror Corra as a way of rebelling against
her super conservative parents. Emma dyed her hair pink, started
wearing all black and smoking cigarettes, which rattled her parents
so profoundly that the three regularly attended family counseling for it.
Like Richard, and again, like most teenagers, Emma felt alone
(05:37):
in the world. Emma wasn't weird like Richard, but being
homeschooled for so long had isolated her from those her age.
A friend in the horror course scene linked Emma with
eighteen year old high school dropout Melanie Wells aka Missus
Free Abortions. She came up with the name not Me
(05:59):
by the Way. Melanie listed her interests as cigarettes, alcohol, lust,
blood and gore and oh get this open graves. Don't
you just love them? A poem on the front page
of Melanie's MySpace read quote, You're screaming and bleeding, lying
on the floor. I can't help it. I'm making for
(06:21):
more gore. Slowly I make an incision in your main artery.
I feel the blood rush gush all over my body.
It's going deeper and deeper. Your life is slowly fading.
Your eyes roll back and your body starts shaking. That
doesn't even rhyme. Richard, Melanie, and Emma bonded over their
(06:43):
love of horror Core, the occult, and everything disturbing. Richard
took a particular interest in Emma, considering her his online girlfriend.
The two went back and forth for nearly a year,
posting to one another. Richard made multiple videos dedicated to
his rag Doll, showing her his disgustingly dirty room with
(07:07):
walls covered in band posters and weapons. But in April
of two thousand and nine, Richard's life fell further apart
when his father kicked his mother out of the house.
To soothe his broken heart and hide from his broken home,
he dove deeper into his online persona and more importantly,
(07:31):
his relationship with Emma. Emma loved Psycho Sam and Richard
loved rag Doll. That's when Richard, Emma, and Melanie prepared
to meet in person. The trio planned on attending the
Strictly for the Wicked Music Festival in Michigan on September twelfth.
(07:54):
That left Emma with just one obstacle. Her parents hated
horrorcore mute Zick would never approve of her going, so
the teen girl developed a plan. Emma Niederbrock and her
(08:33):
friends Richard and Melanie planned on attending the Strictly for
the Wicked Music Festival in Michigan on September twelfth, two
thousand and nine. The only problem was that Emma's parents
wouldn't allow it. After long screaming matches and some family counseling,
Deborah and Mark agreed to let Emma go on the
(08:54):
following conditions. First, Mark and Deborah would chaperone the concert. Second,
if Richard and Melanie wanted to tag along, they must
stay under her supervision at Debra's house. With everyone in agreement,
the trio set their plan into motion. The night Richard
(09:16):
flew out, Emma rode on his wall. The next time
you check your MySpace, you'll be at my house. I
love you so so much, baby, forever and always. You
are my one and only everything. I can't wait to
see you, baby. It's like six seventeen am and I've
been here since fourish, filled with uber amounts of excitement.
(09:41):
I can't wait. I leave to pick you up in
five hours. Ah. My insides feel all squishy. That squishy
feeling kind of faded when Richard landed. Though Richard was
not his online persona, he acted shy, timid. He was
considerably less physically attractive in person than he portrayed online.
(10:07):
Emma expected a rapper that spoke about murdering people, and
instead she got an overweight, mousey boy that seemed to
belong on Fortane or Reddit. As a result, the loving
welcome that Richard expected never came. Richard, Emma, Melanie, Mark,
(10:27):
and Deborah drove from Virginia to Michigan for ten hours.
That said a lot about Mark and Debra's mindset. They
hated horror core music. Mark was a pastor for God's sake,
not to mention. Mark and Debrah separated only months before
(10:48):
those wounds were fresh, yet they came together to ensure
Emma stayed safe. When they arrived, Emma posted to her
MySpace taka about a law ass drive sharing a car
with a preacher. It's going to suck, but no doubt
is it worth it. Many of the trio's friends were
(11:10):
at the festival and claimed to have seen Emma and
Melanie having a blast together. Richard, on the other hand,
was on his own. Emma's friends even claimed she went
out of her way to avoid him. Richard's sister heard
through the grapevine that they fought over their relationship. Richard
(11:31):
thought that two were in an exclusive relationship, while Emma
had been telling people he was just an internet friend.
During the ride home from the festival, it was made
clear that the dynamic between the trio was slightly off.
At two forty three am on September fourteenth, two thousand
(11:51):
and nine, Melanie posted to her MySpace that she would
be home on the sixteenth and that she missed people.
In the middle of the night, on September fifteenth, two
thousand and nine, long after everyone had fallen asleep, Richard
entered the backyard. He was beyond frustrated, filled actually with
(12:16):
explosive rage. Emma invited Richard. He took a long and
expensive flight just for her to turn around and treat
him like shit. He thought to himself, So what if
he was a little different in person than online? So
was she? That was when he noticed something in the woodpile,
(12:39):
a sizeable wood splitting mall implanted in a stump. Richard
examined the mall, larger and longer than a standard axe.
The head split in two, a sharp, thin blade on
one side and a sledgehammer on the other. If what
(13:02):
Emma wanted was Psycho Sam, Richard would give her Psycho Sam.
So Richard picks up the mall, feeling the weight of
it in his hand. It's heavy. They won't have a
chance to fight back. He walks the yard headed towards
(13:22):
the house. The home looks scary in the moonlight, fitting
for what's about to happen. He turns the knob and
shoulders the door open slowly. The house is so silent
that Richard can hear his own heartbeat. Broken up by
his nearly silent steps, he proceeds to the living room couch,
(13:46):
hefting the mall onto his shoulder. The all encompassing darkness
makes the room feel alive. He narrows his eyes to
examine the silhouette of the girl passed out on the couch.
Richard thinks about how the girl below him pretended to
be his friend, one of his only friends in the
(14:07):
whole world, that she treated him like shit, just like
everyone else. He burns a hole in the sleeping girl
with his gaze, but Melanie doesn't stir. She's completely unaware.
Richard raises the mall high, widening his legs for balance,
(14:32):
and down it comes. The mall lands with a crack,
splitting her skull like wood. Melanie doesn't have a chance
to make a sound or lift a hand. Richard pulls
the mall's handle, loosening its head from Melanie's. He brings
(14:55):
them all down, repeatedly, passing through Melanie and onto the
ca ouch cushions. Melanie's mangled pieces become one with the sofa. Next,
Richard walks to the upstairs bedroom. One of the three
women in the house, Deborah is the least guilty. Deborah
(15:17):
has been kind to him, has fed him, has opened
up her home to him with open arms. Richard wonders,
does Deborah know how her daughter has hurt him so deeply? No,
Deborah is as guilty as the rest, guilty by association.
(15:40):
He steps closer to the bed, the moonlight beaming off
the mal's blade. Richard brings down the mall in a swift,
calculated motion. The blade is embedded deep into the bone.
Deborah makes no pleas for mercy, not that they would
matter any He swings again, the blade, landing with a crack,
(16:05):
and again, this time with a thud as it slides
through the soft tissue. He finishes when Deborah no longer
looks human in the moonlight, Richard examines the blood sprinkling
his arms, hoodie and jeans. He reaches up and wipes
his face, wiping away what might be sweat but probably isn't.
(16:30):
He stumbles down toward Emma's room. The mall is heavy,
and his tired hands much heavier than when he first began.
Richard stands over Emma, wondering if he should wake her
and tell her why this has to happen. He has
no doubt she would struggle, scream, and fite for her
(16:50):
life at the sight of her blood soaked internet acquaintance.
He's ready to finish this once and for all. The
mall cuts an arc through the air, cutting deep through
fabric and flesh. The mall buries itself so deep in
Emma's chest the head disappears. As soon as the blade
(17:16):
comes free. A whistling sound escapes Emma's chest, followed by
an eruption of blood. Richard sends it down on Emma's face.
Emma's blood leaks down all over the side of the bed,
pooling around Richard's shoes. He abandons the mall and walks
to the living room. Richard picks up his phone and
(17:40):
clicks record. In the recording, Richard addresses whoever may find
it He apologizes, claiming he lost his mind and snapped.
He asks the viewer to tell his parents that he
loves them. Richard ends the recording with fuck you to
the big world, everybody in the world. I can't stand
(18:03):
this place. On September seventeenth, Melanie's father drives to Farmville
and knocks on the door at eleven am. No one answers,
so he waits and waits and waits for eight hours.
Melanie's parents call her and Emma's phones, and even contact
her online friends. Eventually, Melanie's parents speak with Richard, who
(18:27):
tells them that she and Emma went to a movie
and would be back. Eventually, Melanie's parents call Mark, who
agrees to check it out. Mark uses his key to
unlock Deborah's front door and walks in while calling out
for his family. As Mark walks into the living room,
he catches a glimpse of the massacre. Before everything goes black,
(18:55):
Richard strikes Mark hard from behind with the mall, knocking
him unconscious and onto the floor. Although Mark no longer
poses a threat, Richard continues to hit him until he
destroys the hardwood floor beneath his body. With that last swing,
(19:16):
Richard becomes Psycho Sam for real. When Melanie's parents fail
to hear back from Mark, they call the Farmville Police department.
A sergeant approaches the Kniederbrock house and Richard opens the door.
Richard tells the officer that Emma and Melanie were out
(19:38):
at a movie and would be back soon. Richard explains
that the girls had gone to Richmond the night before
and their car broke down. He also tells the officer
that Melanie isn't responding because her phone stopped working, without
knowing that there are multiple bodies just feet away. And
(19:58):
content with his answers, the police officer leaves. Melanie's parents
send the police back to the house again, and Richard
answers the door again. He gives the police officers another
story about the movies, and without searching the home, they
just leave. Melanie's mom continues calling the house until Richard answers.
(20:23):
This time, he simply says the girls can't come to
the phone. Oddly enough, Richard tells her strange noises are
coming from inside the basement. Melanie's mother instructs him to
call nine one one, and he does. When the operator
answers the phone Richard says, hey, could I have a
(20:43):
police unit come by my house because I keep hearing
sounds coming from the basement and I'm scared to go
down and check what it is. Richard explains that the
noises sound like something is moving down there, and that
they have a few dogs. He tells the officer that
his name is Sam and it's his girlfriend's house. Richard
(21:06):
lets the officer into the basement through a side door,
and they search together but find nothing. For the third
time now, the police leave a murder scene with bodies
in it, without exploring, without even looking around, without a clue.
On September seventeenth, Richard calls home and leaves his family
(21:29):
a voicemail telling them he loves them. With them a gone,
he has no reason to live anyway. Surrounded by Mark
and Melanie's bodies, Richard picks up the phone and records
his goodbye. Richard begins the recording by stating it is
(21:50):
his final minutes of being alive. He tells his parents
that he loves them and that he is sorry. Richard
claims he has to do what he has to do,
pointing to the stairs and alluding to killing himself. He
finishes the recording by saying, so my last words before
(22:11):
I go, fuck you to the world, fuck everybody in it.
I can't stand this place. Fuck your God. Richard moves
Mark and Melanie's bodies to Emma's bedroom and poses them together.
Then he walks to the living room and plans out
(22:32):
his suicide. On September eighteen, two thousand and nine, Melanie's
(23:17):
mother harassed the Farmville police enough that they agreed to
recheck the house. Upon approaching the front door, the smell
of death engulfed them. The officers found the bodies of Mark, Melanie,
and Emma in Emma's bedroom. The bodies were mutilated and unidentifiable.
(23:41):
They discovered Deborah's body in her bedroom, separated from her family.
Each of Richard's victims died from blunt force trauma, and
none had even a single defensive wound. Richard was nowhere
to be found. Earlier that morning, Richard fled Farmville in
(24:02):
Mars two thousand Honda. While on the run, Richard crashed
the Honda, leaving him stuck on the side of the road.
He sat contemplating what to do when he heard a
whooping sound of a police car. The Sheriff's deputy had
been driving down the road and he noticed Richard's predicament
and stopped to check it out. As the deputy approached
(24:27):
the vehicle, Richard turned into Psycho Sam yet again. Richard
introduced himself as Sam and explained that he had borrowed
the car. After some charm, the officer gave Richard a
citation for driving without a license and called him a
tow truck. The truck driver noticed Richard had red marks
(24:50):
covering his neck. When asked about it, Richard claimed they
were hickeys from his girlfriend. The tow truck dropped Richard
off at a convenience store around six am. When police
spoke to the driver, he said Richard stunk like the devil.
From the convenience store, Richard hailed a cab to take
(25:11):
him to the Richmond International Airport. Police pulled over that
taxi cab for speeding with Richard in the back. Richard
calmly exited the cab, lit a cigarette and smoked on
the sidewalk while the taxi driver figured it out. While
Richard escaped, he called a few friends to brag about
(25:33):
what he had done. Richard's friend Andre shrim who went
by sick tannic. The soulless called Farmville police and told
them Richard confessed to killing someone. In response, police spread
pictures of Richard across Virginia. Richard had tickets to fly home,
but they weren't for two days. He attempted to buy
(25:54):
an earlier ticket, but couldn't afford it. At eleven thirty
am on September nineteenth, two thousand and nine, airport security
spotted Richard sleeping in the baggage claim area. That area
of the airport was completely empty other than the snoring boy.
Richard had pulled his legs and arms into his oversized hoodie,
(26:16):
creating a human cocoon, and a team of police officers
calmly approached him without their guns drawn. Richard stood up
and the officers frisked him before walking him out on
his own accord. The prosecutors charged Richard with first degree murder, robbery,
and grand larceny, but later changed the charges to six
(26:39):
counts of capital murder. Richard refused to cooperate with the investigation.
In return, police stuck him in the Piedmont Regional Jail
on suicide watch. The guards stripped Richard naked and dressed
him in a smock made of tear resistant thick material.
He received no books, tv bed, or blankets. Richard had
(27:04):
to eat his meals with his hands. Richard accepted a
plea deal from that cell, exchanging four guilty pleas for
life in prison. Richard waved his right to appeal, and
while walking to his prison transport van, he actually smiled.
(27:24):
Imagine that the first time, perhaps in a long time,
that this person is happy is after brutally murdering people
then getting caught. Richard spent his years in several prisons,
including Wallin's Ridge State Prison and Indian Creek Prison. In
(27:45):
twenty nineteen, one of Richard's cellmates, pee Wee, gave an
interview describing life locked in a cell together. According to Peewee, Richard,
now an adult, introduced himself as psycho Sam. Peewee sized
him up on the first night, calling Richard gumpy and weak.
Pee Wee claimed Richard was forthcoming about why he was
(28:09):
incarcerated and genuinely sounded remorseful. Inmates bullied Richard, isolated and
disrespected him because he killed the young girls as they slept.
According to Peewee, Richard bunks with many men serving short sentences.
For both of their securities. Richard spent his time mentoring
(28:32):
them and sharing his words of wisdom. And the words
of wisdom or life is too short to make impulsive
decisions that ruin your life. If you enjoyed the show,
please consider joining plus at sword and Scale dot com
(28:55):
slash plus. But if you can't, consider leaving us a
positive review you on your preferred listening platform. Sweet Dreams
and good Night
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